JPH02236307A - Snow melt controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save electric power by efficient operation by providing a pair of electrodes on a snow covered face, and also providing electric resistance detecting unit and a temperature detecting unit and operating a snow melt device when outside air temperature is lower than a prescribed value. CONSTITUTION:A pair of electrodes 3, 4 provided on a footpath W are made of rectangular conductor plates, connected to a controller 31 having an electric resistance measuring circuit through a wiring and buried and fixed in a position 2 where snow is melted. The heat collection part 7a of a heat pipe of L-shape is buried underground and a heat radiation part 7b is buried in concrete C, respectively. A heater 8 for an auxiliary heat source is attached to the heat collection part 7a in contact therewith and connected to the controller 31. When electric resistance detected by an electric resistance detecting unit 5 and outside air temperature detected by a temperature detecting unit 6 are lower than respective values, they are outputted by decision circuits 33, 36 to energize the heater 8 and melt snow.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a snow melting control device for efficiently controlling a snow melting device.

[Prior art and issues]

Various snow melting devices for melting snow from roads, roofs, etc. have been known for a long time, and for example, a snow melting/freezing device for efficiently melting snow from the approach from the gate to the entrance has already been published by the applicant in Utility Model Application No. 18507/1983. It is proposed in the official bulletin. This device has the heat collection part of the heat vip buried underground at a predetermined depth, and the heat dissipation part is placed in the area to be melted snow.The heat collection part is also equipped with an auxiliary heat source heater. The snow heater is activated to efficiently melt snow.

By the way, in order to control such an auxiliary heat source heater that does not need to be operated all the time, it is necessary to accurately detect snow conditions and
By operating only when necessary, you can reduce power consumption.
Extremely efficient.

Therefore, it is possible to detect snowfall using a snowfall detector such as that disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-45680, and operate a snow melting device according to the detection result.

However, conventional snowfall detectors melt snow that has fallen onto the board using a heater and detect the presence of melted water by measuring electrical resistance. However, the snow melting device operates, which makes it unsuitable for a snow melting device that is intended to be used as an auxiliary device only during heavy snowfall, like the auxiliary heat source heater described above, and the structure is complicated and costs are high.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a snow melting control device that eliminates the problems existing in the prior art.

[Means to solve the problem]

The snow melting control device l according to the present invention includes an electric resistance detection unit 5 that detects the electric resistance Rs between the electrodes 3 and 4 by disposing a pair of electrodes 3 and 4 on the snow surface 2s of the snow melting area 2, and Temperature To
The detected electrical resistance Rs
is below the set value, and when the detected outside air temperature To is below the set value, the snow melting device E, for example, the heat collector 7a is buried underground at a predetermined depth, and the heat dissipation fi 7b is arranged in the snow melting area 2. It is characterized in that the auxiliary heat source heater 8 attached to the heat collecting portion 7a of the heat pipe 7 is energized. In this case, it is desirable that the electrodes 3 and 4 have their electrode surfaces 3s and 4s exposed at their upper ends, be insulated from the snow-melting area 2, and further be elevated by a predetermined height Ho relative to the snow-covered surface 2s.

In addition, the snow melting control device I according to another embodiment of the present invention has a timer section 10 that can set an operating time t in addition to the above configuration, and in addition to the electrical resistance condition and the outside temperature condition, the snow melting control device I Snow melting device E depending on the start time and operation end time
It is characterized by being made to operate.

[For production]

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

According to the snow melting control device 1 according to the present invention, the electrodes 3 and 4 constituting the electric resistance detector 5 are insulated and embedded and fixed in the snow melting area 2. As a result, the snow surface 2s of the snow melting area 2
The presence or absence of moisture actually present above is detected by measuring the electrical resistance Rs between both electrodes 3 and 4. In addition, since the electrodes 3 and 4 are insulated between the snow melting area 2, the electrical resistance of the snow melting area 2 is not detected, and the height Ha of the electrode surfaces 3s and 4s is set relative to the snow surface 2s. If set arbitrarily, the snowfall state can be detected in accordance with the snowfall intensity; for example, if the height Ho is increased, a small amount of snowfall or a small amount of snowmelt water will not be detected.

On the other hand, an electrical resistance detection section 5 having such electrodes 3 and 4
By combining this with the temperature detection section 6, it is possible to determine whether it is raining or snowing. Furthermore, by adding the timer section 10, it can be operated only from midnight to early morning, when snowfall is especially a problem, and efficient snow melting control becomes possible.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, in order to clarify the present invention, the overall configuration of the snow melting device E will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

Snow melting area 2 in the example is approach A from the gate to the entrance
The sidewalk W of is illustrated. The sidewalk W is made of concrete C, and a plurality of heat pipes 7 bent into an L shape have their heat collecting parts 7a buried at a predetermined depth underground, and their heat dissipating parts 7b... is buried in concrete C along sidewalk W. Further, auxiliary heat source heaters 8 are attached in contact with the heat collecting portions 7a of the heat pipes 7, and each heater 8 is connected to the controller 3l. Each of the heaters 8 constitutes the snow melting device E in the present invention. Note that the controller 3l controls each heater 8.
It has an energization control function for...

Next, a snow melting control device I according to the present invention that controls energization of the auxiliary heat source heater 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

First, a pair of electrodes 3 and 4 are attached to the sidewalk W.

The electrodes 3 and 4 shown specifically in FIGS. 3 and 4 are formed of rectangular conductor plates having a predetermined thickness, and are buried in concrete C with a predetermined width apart and parallel to each other. be done. At this time, the conductor plate is made of water-repellent insulating material 2.
0 to electrically insulate it from concrete C.

This makes it possible to prevent the influence of the electrical resistance of the concrete C itself (usually on the order of several hundred years old). On the other hand, electrodes 3 and 4
The conductor plate protrudes above the snow surface (concrete surface) 2s, exposes the electrode surfaces 3s and 4s only at the upper end, and makes the electrode surfaces 3s and 4s higher than the snow surface 2s by a predetermined height HO. . Note that the protruding portions of the electrodes 3 and 4 relative to the sidewalk W are selected to have a shape that does not pose an obstacle to walking.

On the other hand, the electrodes 3 and 4 are connected to the controller 3l via wires 23 and 24, respectively. The controller 3l is equipped with an electrical resistance measuring circuit 32, which measures the electrical resistance R between both electrodes 3 and 4.
Measure s. This constitutes the electrical resistance detection section 5. Then, the measured electrical resistance Rs is compared with a preset value in the judgment circuit 33, and when the measured value is less than or equal to the set value, it outputs "l", and when it exceeds the set value, it outputs "0", and this signal is It is applied to the input side of the AND gate 34 via the connection switch 35.

Further, a thermistor 26 is installed at a predetermined location outside, and this thermistor 26 is connected to the controller 31. The controller 3l is equipped with an air temperature measuring circuit 38 to measure the outside air temperature T.
Measure O. This constitutes the temperature detection section 6. Then, the measured outside temperature To is compared with a preset value in the determination circuit 39, and when the measured value is less than or equal to the set value, it outputs "l", and when it exceeds the set value, it outputs "0", and this signal is output. is applied to the input side of the AND gate 34 via the connection switch 36.

On the other hand, a timer unit 10 is connected to the controller 3l via a connection switch 4l. The timer section 10 has a built-in clock function, and can set an operation time t (operation start time and operation end time). Then, set "1" at the set operation start time,
Outputs "O" at the end of operation time, and this signal is A N D
It is applied to the input side of the gate 34.

On the other hand, the output side of the AND gate 34 is connected to the auxiliary heat source heater 8 through an output circuit 42 and a relay 43.

Next, the operation of the snow melting control device 1 according to the present invention will be explained.

First, a case will be described in which the electric resistance detection section 5 and the temperature detection section 6, which are basic configurations, are used.

In this case, the connection switches 35 and 36 are turned on, and the connection switch 4l is turned off.

First, when there is no snowfall, the electrical resistance Rs is in an insulated state, and the output of the determination circuit 33 is "0", so the AND
The output of the gate 35 also becomes "0", and the auxiliary heat source heater 8
...is not energized.

On the other hand, in the case of snowfall, the snow covered surface 2s of the sidewalk W becomes wet, and when the snow accumulates to a certain extent, the amount of water increases due to the snow melting action of the heat vibrator 7, the electrical resistance Rs between the electrodes 3 and 4 decreases, and the output of the determination circuit 33 decreases. It becomes rlJ. Furthermore, during snowfall, the outside air temperature To also decreases and the output of the determination circuit 36 becomes "1", so the output of the AND gate 34 becomes rN. Therefore, the auxiliary heat source heaters 8 are energized.

By the way, since the sidewalk W is always warmed by the snow melting action of the heat pipe 7 itself, there is no need to use the auxiliary heat source heater 8 during light snowfall, and it is necessary to increase the heating capacity only during heavy snowfall. It becomes necessary. For this reason, in the present invention, depending on the manner in which the electrodes 3 and 4 are installed, a small amount of snowfall that does not accumulate is not detected, and a small amount of snow that does not cause a problem in real life is not detected even if it snows. That is, as snow accumulation progresses, the snow-covered area becomes sherbet-like due to the snow-melting action of the heat pipe 7, and a water film of a predetermined height is formed. Therefore, if the height Ho of the electrode surfaces 3s and 4s is selected, a small amount of Snowmelt water is not detected, but detection can be performed according to the desired snowfall amount, making it possible to always perform appropriate and efficient snowmelt.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be explained. By further combining the operating time L with the electrical resistance Rs and the outside temperature To, more accurate and efficient snow melting control becomes possible. In this case, the connection switches 35, 36,
All you have to do is turn on both 4l.

It has been statistically clarified that the time of day when snowfall is most likely to occur is from around midnight until dawn in the morning, except during times of heavy snowfall.

On the other hand, snowfall in the early morning is a problem in real life.

Therefore, if the auxiliary heat source heaters 8 are energized only during this time period, snow melting can be carried out efficiently without causing problems in real life. Therefore, by combining the timer output 0 with respect to the above example and applying the three-value judgment results of the electrical resistance Rs, the outside air temperature TO, and the operating time t to the AND gate 34, a predetermined time period can be set. Electricity can be applied to the auxiliary heat source heaters 8 only during the operating time of 7.

Note that, if necessary, conditions based on other detection elements, such as conditions such as light reflectance (light reflection intensity) obtained by optically detecting the snow-covered state of the snow-covered surface 2s using a reflective optical sensor, may be used in combination. This does not necessarily hinder the case, and by combining them, reliability and certainty can be further improved.

Although the embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

For example, the shape of the electrodes may be a pair of cylindrical electrodes, or a cylindrical and ring-shaped electrode may be coaxially arranged, and the shape and arrangement can be arbitrarily implemented. It is also widely applicable to snow melting devices for other arbitrary uses. In addition, the detailed structure, shape, arrangement, material, etc. may be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the snow melting control device according to the present invention detects the electrical resistance between the electrodes by disposing a pair of electrodes on the snow surface of the snow melting area, and changes the outside temperature and the operation time to this electrical resistance. Since the snow melting device is operated based on the determination result obtained by combining the detection elements, the following effects are achieved.

■ Snow melting equipment, especially supplementary heaters, etc., can be activated only when snow accumulation poses a problem in real life, making it possible to perform accurate and efficient snow melting control, reducing power consumption and savings. It can contribute to energy production.

■ By placing electrodes directly on snow-melting areas where heat pipes have already been buried, a water film is quickly formed after snowfall, making it possible to reliably detect snowfall, as well as installing only the electrodes, making it simple and low-cost. It can be implemented.

(2) By combining temporal conditions, it is possible to operate the snow melting device only during times when it is highly necessary, and more efficient snow melting control can be performed by preventing unnecessary operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1.2 A block system diagram showing the snow melting control device according to the present invention. Fig. 2: Overall configuration diagram of the snow melting control device. Fig. 3: Plan view of electrodes in the snow melting control device. Fig. 4: The same. A vertical cross-sectional view of an electrode. In the drawing, ■ = Snow melting control device 2: Snow melting area 2s: Snow covered surface 3s, 4s: Electrode surface 6: Temperature detection section 7a: Heat collecting section 82 Auxiliary heat source heater E: Snow melting device 3.4: Electrode 5 : Electrical resistance detection part 7 : Heat vip 7b : Heat dissipation part 10 = Timer part HO : Height Patent applicant Takemura Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Patent attorney Shigeru Shimoda Figure 2 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] [1] An electric resistance detection unit that detects the electrical resistance between the electrodes by disposing a pair of electrodes on the snow surface of the snow-melting area, and an air temperature detection unit that detects the outside air temperature, and A snow melting control device that operates a snow melting device when each of the following conditions is satisfied. (a) The detected electrical resistance is below the set value; (b) The detected outside air temperature is below the set value. The snow melting control device according to claim 1, wherein the snow melting control device is a heater for an auxiliary heat source attached to the heat collecting portion of a heat pipe buried underground. [3] The snow melting control device according to claim 1, wherein the electrode has an electrode surface exposed at the upper end and is insulated from the snow melting area. [4] The snow melting control device according to claim 3, wherein the electrode surface is elevated by a predetermined height relative to the snowfall surface. [5] An electrical resistance detection section that detects the electrical resistance between the electrodes by disposing a pair of electrodes on the snow surface of the area to be melted, an air temperature detection section that detects the outside temperature, and a timer section that can set the operating time. A snow melting control device comprising: a snow melting device that operates a snow melting device when the following conditions are both satisfied. (a) The detected electrical resistance is below the set value, (b) The detected outside temperature is below the set value, (c) The set operation start time and operation end time, [6] The operation start time is set at a predetermined time in the middle of the night. The snow melting control device according to claim 5, characterized in that: [7] The snow melting control device according to claim 5, wherein the operation end time is set at a predetermined time in the morning. [8] The snow melting device is characterized by being an auxiliary heat source heater attached to the heat collecting part of a heat pipe in which the heat dissipating part is disposed at the snow melting area and the heat collecting part is buried underground at a predetermined depth. The snow melting control device according to claim 5. [9] The snow melting control device according to claim 5, wherein the electrode has an electrode surface exposed at the upper end and is insulated from the snow melting area. [10] The snow melting control device according to claim 9, wherein the electrode surface is raised by a predetermined height relative to the snowfall surface.